15 day Egypt Tour "Pyramids & Beaches"

We flew with Alitalia and had a stopover in Milan for 8 hours - our flight to Egypt would've only been 5 hours total! Ah well the things we do to save a few pounds. We arrived to Cairo airport at 02:25 and thankfully had an airport transfer waiting for us. The traffic is madness, no lanes, cars paying no attention to speed limits, donkeys lugging carts, overcrowded buses etc all constantly sitting on their horns. We checked into the hotel and slept til 1pm, and then decided to venture out, we didn't get too far but just sitting watching the traffic and people is entertainment and eye opening enough. Crossing the road was an experience, I was a bit scared and ended up just clinging to Niki, you just weave in between the cars, they kind of slow down for you. Surprisingly in all this madness we didn't see one accident or road rage.

Day 1 was just an arrival day so no formal plans but later that afternoon a few others had arrived so we went out to dinner on a cruise on the Nile. It was pretty tacky but also fun, and obviously just unreal to be on the Nile! We had entertainment from a freaky belly dancer who kept eyeing Niki up and shaking her fake boobs at him, freaking him out, also there was a sufi dancer (male) they basically spin around and around with these big skirts, so they look like spinning tops, and do other stuff while continually spinning for ages and ages!! It's pretty cool.

Day 2 we met at 08:30 for a "meet & greet" and then hopped on the coach for the first big whammy - visiting the pyramids! What can I say - they were every bit as amazing and impressive as you imagine. We also did a camel ride which was sooo cool. Later we went to the Egyptian museum, the main attraction there for me was seing King Tutankhamen's mask and stuff found in his grave (his actual mummy lies at the Valley of the Kings).

That night we boarded a train to travel to Aswan (13 hours!). The train was "first class" - and surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be, but still I refused to use the loo. What can I say - super woman bladder!

Day 3 we had a wake up call at 03:00 as we had to join a police convoy to travel out to Abu Simbel. This is an incredible sight - by far the most impressive temple mostly because of it's location, carved right into the rocks and it's very well preserved.

We spent 1.5 days on a felucca which is a sort of sailing boat, large flat deck with storage underneath. We just lazed around in the sun and docked at night. Niki also braved the cold water and had a dip in the Nile. It was sooo relaxing and fun on the felucca. We had a tape player belting out Marley songs and a 2 man crew who sailed (obviously!) and also cooked for us. Was such an awesome experience, the only downer was the lack of toilets and by that stage everyone had funny tummys! (just to clarify - not funny haha).

We left the felucca at 7.30 on Day 6 and hopped on a coach which drove for an hour where we visited Kom Ombo Temple and Edfu Temple en route to Luxor, where we arrived at 1pm. We checked into the hotel and were stoked to learn that there was a swimming pool on the roof! Had a fantastic afternoon lounging by the pool and ordering western type food, washing down those imodium tablets.

On day 7 we had an early morning and had an hour donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings. It was really fun and amazing to see all the dessert.

Out of the 18 on our tour, only 5 of us had booked the 15 day rather than 9 day. We left Cairo on day 9 at 06:00 on a mini bus arriving at Dahab at around 14:00. Dahab was fantastic, there was no formal programme as such, we just were told what was on offer and had a GoBus rep available for any queries and he hung out with us for dinner etc. The first night Niki, Scott and I decided to climb Mt Sinai (Moses Mountain) and tagged along with another tour group. We left the hotel at 23:00, drove for an hour and then walked up the mountain which took approx 3 hours, when we got to the top we hired skody mattresses and blankets and had a kip until 06:00 when we were awoken for the sunrise... It was pretty special.

We got back to the hotel at 10:30 and had arranged to go snorkelling with Marina and Bridgit that day so even though we were tired we trooped on. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best so it wasn't very enjoyable but still cool to be in the Red Sea!

Niki and the other 3 in our group had all decided to do their PADI open water dive course over the next 3 days so I was left alone to sunbathe etc...Bliss! Marina didn't like the feeling of being constricted (can't blame her!) so I had a friend after day 1 (yay). Niki really enjoyed the challenge and saw some awesome fish - on the last day they dove to 18 metres and he passed his test so is now an open water qualified diver - woohoo!! Another expensive hobby to add to the list...flying, snowboarding and now this =)

We lounged by the pool, had a few drinks, ate out for every meal (heaven!) - awesome food and service - and got a few souvenirs. Going to Dahab was so different to the rest of what we'd seen in Egypt and a fantastic way to end our Egypt trip.

Day 14 we departed Dahab at 13:00 and were on our way back to Cairo...and Day 15 was the departure day so nothing too exciting going on. We were the last to leave with our airport transfer not leaving until 01:00 on Monday - arriving back into London finally at 12pm. A trip to the laundromat and then over to Mandy & Azz's for a well deserved night's rest.

Mad Hatter Tea(quila) Party

As our time in Edinburgh was drawing near to an end I thought it fitting to plan yet another farewell party. Mad Hatter Tea(quila) Party was the theme…although in the end there was probably more tequila than mad hats!

Had a really good turn out from all the great people I’ve met through couchsurfing which made for a fabulous fun night! The pics speak for themselves so I will leave it at that…

and yes Pam, you were right, Tequila = hangover…why couldn’t I stop after just 1 or 2!!!!

Visit from Busabout Pals

Mandy & Az, whom we met on our BusaBout trip last year, came up from London on 16-17 Feb for a wee visit before they went on the Highland tour we had just done.

Was so great to see them again, we get on so well, they are such a laugh! We forgive them for being Australian =)

The bussed it up from London and told us all the horrendous tales - we just can't wait until 29 Feb when it's our turn to bus it down to London (9.5 hours!). They arrived at 7.30ish and we went out for a yummy italian meal on Saturday night - probably the first time we have eaten at a restaurant in 6 months so it tasted extra good! The next morning we sent them on the free walking tour (I'm the biggest ambassador for the "neweurope" free tours - they rock!). We met up after lunch and found a random old graveyard which we had walked by many times but never been in, we then went up Carlton Hill which is unmistakable with its Athenian acropolis poking above the skyline - it gives you gorgeous panoramic views of Edinburgh and is surprisingly a peaceful place to be. We'd only been up at night so it was a good touristy afternoon for us as well.

We decided to have dinner and drinks at home that night and later Mandy, Aaron and Niki went out on a ghost tour. Edinburgh is well known for these and I have heard freaky stories - there was no way I was going on it! Niki and Aaron said it was really stink though apart from going down into some cellars. Luckily dear Mandy got really scared and upset so it made it a bit more real and entertianing for the boys! meanies!

Monday morning we farewelled them but will see them again very soon as they have kindly offered to store our excess luggage and given us a place to stay overnight before flying to Egypt! YAY

3 day Isle of Skye Tour

On Fri the 8th of Feb we departed on our Highland trip with Haggis Tours. It was a full bus – 1 guide/driver and 29 passengers (20 of which were American students!) Haha but they were actually pretty nice kids – only one stereotypical loud annoying 1! There was a couple from China and 4 ppl from Aus as well. The Guide, Tony, was fantastic! He absolutely made the tour with his fabulous story telling ability, good natured, relaxed and had time to talk to everyone, always making jokes and so passionate about his “sexy” country (that’s Haggis’ tours drop phrase!)

The first day we drove up via Pitlochry, Dunkeld, Perth and Inverness, arriving at Fort Augustus, near Loch Ness just after 6pm. We stopped off for lunch and other photo ops during the day (and already I struggle to remember all the places we went!), there was a bit of snow around on the hills but nothing more – apparently the week before the road had been closed! For dinner we had haggis & chilli baked potato! Very interesting!!! We headed to a local man’s show and heard about the bloody history of the clans and got to see their weapons and he explained how they were used (horrific stuff), and Hayley volunteered to try on traditional Highland dress (ugly!!) After that we headed across the road to a pub where 6 locals sat jamming together playing Scottish music. Was fantastic!

Next morning we were on the bus by 08:30am and headed down to Loch Ness to see it in the daylight – Tony was well prepared with plenty of props so we could take our token cheesy pics - Love the ginger look =) Love it! We then drove by some heilan coo’oos (one lot of oo’s are silent!) which are so cute – I know they’re just hairy cows! But they are cool =) We headed up to Isle of Skye, where we saw ruined castles, fortresses and awesome scenery. We hopped off the bus to look over the edge of cliffs and also went to a beach but unfortunately there was a misty rain so we all got pretty wet – was worth it though! It was too foggy to see Ben Nevis (tallest Mountain in UK) which was a shame. Tony pointed towards the Hebridian Islands where the Morrison clan came from, which is my Mum’s family, so that was cool. But he said he thinks McGechie is originally Irish so I’m all over the place!

That night we stayed in a different Hostel (Saucy Marys) and they had a local musician doing covers so that was fun. All the Americans partied all night long but us oldies went to bed at midnight =) Needless to say there was a lot of sleeping going on, on the bus the next day!

On Sunday we headed towards Glencoe which was magnificent. The story behind it is so sad! And if you’re last name is Campbell I’d stay away from the Highlands – they hold a grudge! We stopped for lunch and had Cullen Skink which is smoked fish soup – delicious! We headed to Stirling which is home to the William Wallace Monument before arriving back in Edinburgh at 17:30. There are about 100 pics in a web albums for this trip if u want to see more scenery etc.

11 more sleeps until we leave Edinburgh!!!!!!!!!

Waitangi - Wai Not?

I helped to organise a Edinburgh Couchsurfing meet for Waitangi. Tuesday night Kim & I missioned out to Asda (cheap supo open 24 hours) to get the mega bargains. 10 shopping bags full and an hour later we stumbled out of the shop and on to a bus back into town. Poor Kim had to struggle with bags and bags of groceries - including a tray of 30 eggs - as we live in different parts of the city. We arranged the meet for Wednesday 6 Feb and that we were having kiwi burgers at Kim's house and had a huge response - 25 ppl showed up! bit of a squeeze but good fun had by all. Tarns came along too and ended up being the bestest kitchen bitch the world has even seen (THANKS!!). The night was filled with a little poi action, sticks, bit of singing and 'haka' posing and watched some Flight of the Conchords (legendary NZ comedy!!). We had 6 true blue kiwis there which was wicked. I wasn't drinking and instead spent lots of time cooking & cleaning etc and had everyone commenting on me being sober and that they weren't used to it (and didn't like it!)... obviously have a bad rep to work on!